Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



'A. LVARNEY.

Breech Loading Fire Arm.

Patented March 30, 1869.

A. L. VARNEY, OF WATERTOWN, ASSIGNOR TO ALFRED B. ELY, OF

NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 88,530, dated Mwrch 30, 1869.

IIlIIPRO'VEMEN'T IN BREECI-I-LOADING- FIRE-ARMS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

Be it known that I, A. L. VARNEY, of Water-town, in the State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBreech-Loading Fire- Arms, of which the following, with the accompanyingdrawings, is a full description. 7

My invention has special reference to the ejection of the empty shell ofa percussioned or metallic cartridge after the charge is fired; andconsists, mainly in the employment of a toggle-jointed spring andejecting-finger; and in the drawings, 1 apply it to use in connectionwith the solid swinging breech-block, or plug, for which a patent wasissued tb A. B. Ely, assiguee of J. \V. Preston, February 5, 1867, andnow in use in the alteration of muskets by the United States.

Figure 1 is a sectional view, with the breech-block down, the cartridgein its seat, and the ejector thrown forward, before action.

Figure 2 is a partial section, with the ejector thrown back, afteraction.

Figure 3 is a plan of the under side of the ejector.

Figure 4 will be described hereafter.

A represents a musket-barrel,aml a the bore.

B is the solid plug, filling the enlarged part of the cavity of thebarrel, or the receiver, in front of the tang-screw, 0r recoil-plate D,the bore of this cavity,

or receiver being as much larger than the bore of the barrel as theflange of a cartridge is larger than the body of it, this size of boreextending enough beyond the front face of the plug to admit of theflange of the cartridge between such face and the rear shoulder of thebore of the barrel.

. d is a small spur on the rear of the hinge 1), upon which the plugturns, and the straps of which hinge are fastened to the barrel andplug, at cc. (1 projects sufliciently far to strike the cartridge-casein front of itsflange when the plug is turned up, and to move, or forcethe shell backward, as the plug is turned further up and back, as isshown in red lines in fig. 1.

E'is a flat spring, fastened, at e, to the bottom of the barrel, andextending backward as far as the bore a extends.

At the rear end of the spring E is attached a sharppointed, or edgedfinger, F, with cross-arms f, this finger being attached, to E by across-axis, a: 00, forming a toggle-joint at X.

At Z is a slot through the bottom of the barrel, extending from thefront of the flange of the shell, when in position, sutiiciently farback to permit the spring to operate effectually.

n is the outline of the barrel, each side the slot Z.

The cross-arms f f extend each side the slotZ, rest ing on the outsidethe barrel, and upon the outline a, the under side of the barrel beingfiled away, to form such outline.

The operation is as follows:

The breech-block, or plug being thrown up and over, thus opening thecavity of the receiver, and the spring E extended, with the point 0, ofthe finger F, projecting backward and upward, above the lower line ofthe bore of the receiver, as shown in fig. 2, the cartridge isintroduced, its forward end penetrating the bore of the barrel 0-, untilthe flange strikes the projecting finger 1*.

The breech-block, or plug is then brought forward and shut down, and, asthis is done, the front face of the plug, striking the rear of thecartridge, forces it inwards, and pressing the flange against the point0 of the finger F, throws it forward, depressing the spring E to theposition seen in fig. 1.

The front, or edge 0 ofthe finger F, is made sharp, so as to engage withthe surface of the body of the shell before the flange, when pressedforward, as in fig. 1, and by its pressure against the shell, and theshell against the barrel, it is held it place till the shell is startedbackward; but, besides this, when the point 0 is pushed forward, thecross-armsj, of the finger F, ride forward, over the outline a of thebarrel, to the right-hand position in fig. 4, and the finger is retainedin place by the pressureof f against a.

\Vhcn the charge is exploded, the plug is raised and i turned over. Asthis is done, the spur d strikes the shell in front of the flange, andmoves it back, and, in so doing, also moves back the point 0 of thefinger E, and thus the spring E is let loose; the point ofthc finger issuddenly thrust back, as the spring straightens and expends its force,and the shell is struck, or flipped backward with force enough todischarge it from the barrel, and, indeed, from the receiver, thecrossarms f riding backward, along the outline a, to the left-handposition in fig.-4.

The spring E may be made a little longer, as shown by red lines in fig.1, so that the centre of revolution of the toggle-joint X shall beslightly in rear of the position of the point 0, in which case 0 willretain its upward and backward position till, by the backward pressureof the shell, or otherwise, the point 0 shall pass in rear of the centreX, when the spring will at once act, and the point be thrust back, andthe shell ejected, as before.

\Vhat I claim, is-

The toggle-joint-spriug ejector, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed Witnesses E. M.STEVENS, W. M. PARKER.

